Languedoc-Roussillon, France

Mas Mudigliza

The exotic name sounds like an Italian racing motorcycle.  In fact, Mudigliza is an imaginative mash-up of the owners’ names, Muriel Samson and Dmitri Glipa.  The wines are memorable, too. The husband and wife team farms small, high elevation parcels of syrah, grenache and carignan vines which are planted on schist and granite.  All the fruit is hand harvested (there is no other way), fermented in tank and aged in barrique.

Domaine Félines Jourdan

Vast acres of picpoul vines cover this part of the Languedoc so it is refreshing to find a concerned, family-owned estate elevating the quality of wines.  Claude Jourdan has owned the estate for nearly 30 years and works her vineyards with best sustainable practices. The vineyards, from ancient oyster beds to iron-rich soils, combine to make an exhilarating white with the thrill of a slight brininess. 

Picpoul de Pinet

Château Gulihem

The Château Guilhem is located in the western Languedoc in the Malpére appellation.  Malpére, in the northwest of the Languedoc, is distinguished by its use of Bordeaux grape varieties in a region otherwise based on Rhône varieties.  For six generations, the same family has owned the estate which is located in a small village not far from the old fortress town of Carcassonne.

Vin de Pay d’Oc Merlot - Pot de Vin